a few questions...

[cupcrazy4]

I've been looking around at people's kits on the forum and had a few questions. Mainly, why do a lot of drummers have a second (aux..?) snare (or sometimes tom) to the left of their primary snare (for right handed players)? Why on earth do you need two snares? Are they supposed to sound different for different types of playing or something...?
Also, what are remote high hats for? This sort of ties in with my first questions, but if you have one high hat already why do you need another?

[bears_eating_drums]

The main reason I keep 2 snares around is for the difference in sound and texture, I have a 14" Pearl Ultracast (aluminum) infront of me and a 13 x 8" Master Custom (some crazy kind of maple) on my left. There is a world of difference in sound between them, the Master custom has a very "wet" sound when played lightly, and a nice full tone when givin a good rimshot, while the ultracast is a little more muffled, but still has more of an attack-ish sound to it. Another reason I have two set up is simply because it's really fun to jam with them both out, and you can do plenty of cool fills between the two of them.

As for the whole remote hi-hat stuff... I don't really know much about them because I have never played on a kit that had two hi-hats set up. I noticed that some drummers even have hi-hats as small as 10" set up on those remote hi-hat stands, and then they have 14 or 13"s on their left, which again is mainly for sound and texture difference I'm guessing. Another thing is that you wouldn't have to play cross handed to play your hi-hats all the time, which probably feels much more comfortable to some people.

[aydee]

why do a lot of drummers have a second (aux..?) snare (or sometimes tom) to the left of their primary snare (for right handed players)?

Same reason some drummers have 4 instead of 3, 2 , or 1 toms..

Why on earth do you need two snares? Are they supposed to sound different for different types of playing or something...?

Yes, for a different tone primarily..

Also, what are remote high hats for? This sort of ties in with my first questions, but if you have one high hat already why do you need another?

To play a closed hi hat sound, while the hi-hat foot is playing a double bass pedal simultaneously..



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[maddrummr]

I have a tom to the left of my hats. People say its strange when they look at your kit but its another option especially when your filling with sweet hi hat licks and you need a tom to hit and its on an upbeat so you cant swing your arm over to a floor tom.

[joeybeats]

Reference the two snares ... If you would like a first hand opportunity to know what is possible, get a copy of the US Beat dvd and listen to Steve Smith play. The man is the most melodical drummer alive (IMO) and a few minutes watching will bring it all home to you. Jo JO has a bit on his recent dvd, and it is tasty also, but not enough playing oin the dvd.You can probably do a youtube search and find a lot of the top guys using two snares. Probabaly a few clips here at DW in the drummer section too. Anyway, when you hear a really talented drummer use the aux snare, your jaw will drop open. Joey